DE 43 44 433 A1 has disclosed a toll payment apparatus and a toll system, in which current position coordinates are recorded by a GPS receiver in the vehicle toll payment apparatus. They are further permanently compared with the entry/exit coordinates of a turnpike section which are stored internally in an electronic vignette. If the coordinates match, they are transmitted by way of a digital mobile network to a vehicle-external billing center. The transmitted data are then used in the billing center to calculate the turnpike kilometers traveled, and the turnpike charges associated with them.
WO 95/20801 discloses a toll payment apparatus for fixing toll fees, with the currently determined position of the vehicle being compared with a large number of positions of virtual payment points.
The known toll payment apparatuses have the primary disadvantage that it is impossible to carry out any toll payments if the communication with the position measurement system fails at times. A further disadvantage is that the amount of data in toll systems which use the known toll payment apparatuses is very large owing to the permanent comparison of the current position coordinates with the coordinates of the virtual toll payment points.